Children and armed conflict – "Protect my school!"

Today the German Permanent Representative, Mr Peter Wittig, and the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, jointly launch the campaign “Protect my school!”

The campaign is preparing the grounds for a draft resolution that Germany intends to submit to the Security Council during the German Presidency in July. The resolution intends to better protect schools and hospitals during armed conflicts.

On the start of the campaign, Ambassador Wittig stressed: “Children are the first victims of armed conflicts. They need and deserve the best possible protection. And so do the places that care and tend for them: schools and hospitals. Attacks against these facilities are appalling. We want to make sure that perpetrators of such attacks are held accountable and deterred from further attacks.”

Mrs Coomaraswamy emphasized: “Schools must be safe places of learning and development for all children and zones of peace. Those who attack schools and hospitals should know that they will be held accountable.”